First we stretched our legs at Trillium Lake Sno-Park in the shadow of Mount Hood--the snow was packed and icy, so no use for snowshoes even. This was actually the best view we've ever had of Hood from our few trips to the Portland-area.

Next stop was the Holiday Inn Express in Bend where Lillie had a heart to heart with Zizou before we went to the Deschutes Brewery (the beer served at Klugusamy 07/07/07).

We took a stroll around the Old Mill District--there's some nice park area/trails surrounding the shopping along the Deschutes River. Freezing fog was the forecast. Our first encounter with such. And the first time we've ever seen rime ice. Super cool stuff--all the trees and shrubs were covered with it.

The next morning it was 28 degrees and foggy in Bend--after a 25 mile drive to the Mount Bachelor area it was an amazing 48 degrees with sunshine and blue sky. Short pants to play in the snow wouldn't have been that crazy.

We used the Dutchman Flat Sno-Park as our jumping off point. No trail to follow, we just climbed upwards until we ended up at a sunny clearing with a nice view of Bachelor. We hung out here for awhile just soaking in all the pleasantness.

After some Arby's we hopped on US 97 headed to Yakima where we had a free night at the Howard Johnson (just as we did on the way to Boise over Labor Day). This stretch of US 97 is pretty desolate--but the ghost town of Shaniko was a surprise delight.

We ended the day with a perfectly fine dinner at Red Lobster in Yakima--it'll be another fifteen years before we eat at Red Lobster again, but I'll continue to endorse it as a great seafood restaurant for inland America. Next time we'll use this weird kitchen in our room at the HoJo for dinner: